10of12Cats hang out in a kennel at the Animal Defense League of Texas. In the past several years, the campus has seen new buildings rise to better serve its occupants.Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News

Since 1923, the goal of the Animal Defense League of Texas has been protecting the animals of San Antonio.

The nonprofit organization sprang from the Child Protective and Humane Society, led by Herman H. Ochs and Mrs. Scott C. Applewhite. According to an Express-News story, the mission was to prevent “ignorance, pauperism, immorality and crime” among children and “cruel beating, harnessing, starving, overloading and other brutal use” of animals.

The group of animal advocates built a series of makeshift, open cages that served as home for the stray and injured cats and dogs roaming San Antonio. The ramshackle shelter was little more than lengths of chicken wire, nailed to scraps and planks of wood, plunked down on a stretch of prairie that would become the Austin Highway.

By the early 1960s, ADL had relocated to the Northeast side, expanding its mission from supplying basic shelter to securing homes for the scores of dogs, puppies, cats and kittens they cared for each year.

The main campus, located at 11300 Nacogdoches Road, spreads across more than 12 acres that includes an adoption center, a cattery complex, an education center and a separate clinic for ADL medical care and animal surgeries on site. In 2016, the ADL took on a second location, the Paul Jolly Center for Pet Adoptions in Brackenridge Park, where potential adopters could see prospective pets through glass enclosures.

From the early hardscrabble days to the advancements of the present, ADL has always been a true, no-kill shelter.

According to an ADL operating statement, no animal will be euthanized if it can be cared for and returned to health. And if they reach the maximum capacity of 400 animals, no more animals would be taken in, nor euthanized to make room for other dogs and cats.

An example of the ADL creed for the past 94 years can be seen in the story of Melon, a black Labrador Retriever mix, who arrived at the shelter as a pup and died at ADL at the age of 12. In 2009, he held the title of the stray that had lived the longest at the shelter.

According to ADL, the shelter is funded through adoption fees, bequests from individuals, donations, special events and grants.

In a letter to the community, executive director Janice Darling, thanked the public for its help through “gifts of time, money, resources and advocacy.”

“The thought that the love of an animal makes us more human, humane and compassionate and being part of a community of people who care is inspiring,” Darling said. “Some year, maybe in the not-too-distant future, our work may no longer be needed.”

But that time has yet to come, and Darling thanked San Antonio for supporting the “difficult but gratifying work.”

ADL spokesman Matt Elmore said the ADL is the state’s oldest, continually running animal shelter. Walking the grounds, Elmore said they often change the building spaces to meet their needs. He pointed out a building that was configured to take in animals rescued from Houston shelters after Hurricane Harvey.

In the past several years, the campus has seen new buildings rise to better serve its occupants. In September 2014, the nonprofit opened a 1,600-square-foot hospital addition that included 31 kennels, larger runs and more capacity to care for more ill and injured animals.

Veterinarians at the state-of-the-art clinic perform an average of 40 surgeries each day and more than 100 sterilizations in a five-day week.

That same year, two new kennels opened as the result of a partnership between ADL and the city. The $2.2 million facilities included a room with 18 kennels for up to 72 puppies.

Elmore said at the core of their work is an effort to solidify best practices and work in the best interest of their orphaned pets.

He said the shelter is one of Animal Care Services’ rescue partners that pulls stray dogs from ACS six times a week to make more room in the city shelter and help decrease the stray dog population.

“Along with the other large animal organizations in the city, we’re all working toward the same goal,” Elmore said, “to make San Antonio the largest no-kill city in the United States, and we are right there.”

ADL dog trainer Jamie Gibson said their focus is trying to re-home animals in the best homes possible.

“We’re kind of like the bridge,” Gibson, 33, said, “between from where they came from to where they’re going. While they’re in our care, we’re trying to make sure they’re getting all of their needs met, physical, mental and emotional. Our main goal is to make sure we’re the best caretakers while we find them their forever homes, and our volunteers are a big part of that.”